cybernationsfandomcom-20200215-history
Nordreich Liga Season X
]] Nordreich Liga Season X ran from March 14, 2012 to June 16, 2012. The league underwent an eventful off-season heading into Season X with expansion by one addtional team (to bring the number of member teams to 8) and two new managers joining the league as replacements. Nederland joined the league as an expansion team on March 2, 2012 with Quags86 as the manager. After Folkvar was fired as manager of Inverness Alba Rovers on the same day, Heinzkitzweldwedt took over the Rovers as their new manager on the following day. The same day as the Rovers take-over, the Valley Hillbillies renamed were renamed The Frogs by their new management who had joined the league in the last week of Season IX. Inverness Alba Rovers were then renamed Moenchengladbach on March 5, 2012. However, early season optimism for the future of the league quickly began to sink in the face of management resignations. Quags86 resigned as Nederland manager on March 31, 2012 but then rejoined the club a week later on April 7, 2012. Four days later, the Nederland manager resigned for a second time and was followed three days later on April 14, 2012 by the manager of The Frogs, who also resigned. Then on June 7, 2012, Heinzkitzweldwedt resigned as manager of Moenchengladbach and the league found itself down to effectively four active clubs. Final Standings Regular Season Nordreich Liga 1 Statistics Leaders All-Star Team Team of the Month Award Retirements & Departures *'Patrick Battiston' (Valley Hillbillies/The Frogs) fullback, age 32. Released by the club on March 25, 2012. Played in 13 matches. *'Tusker Doumbé' (Kaapstad Hornets) goalkeeper, age 26. Doumbé joined the team in Season II and spent the next 7 of 8 seasons as the back-up goalkeeper with the Hornets. His best season was Season VIII when he had a team-leading 82% save percentage in 3 regular season games and 3 cup games. He played 45 matches for the Hornets including a high of 10 regular-season matches in Season V in which he was the starting goalkeeper. However, he generally found himself in the reserve spot playing in the long shadows of Oskar Dietz and Wollo Schampa – never able to get the break he needed to permanently secure the starting position. He was sold on March 6, 2012 just prior to the start of Season X. Doumbé would later find his way back to a Bartnel Botha-managed team when he signed (four seasons later, at age 30) with Congo-Stars Brazzaville in the African Premier League. * Sipho Griekwa (Kaapstad Hornets) forward, age 29. - He was released by club due to injuries on March 28, 2012 after 10 seasons of play in the Liga from Season I, when he was promoted from the junior team, until Season X. Noted for his speed and toughness - as well as his ability on freekicks - during the latter part of his career, Griekwa was chronically plagued by major injuries. He endured at least one major injury in each of his last four seasons and he was released by the club on March 28, 2012 after suffering yet another injury against Keville Athletic. At the time of his retirement with the Hornets, he was the club's third-highest points scorer (49) and leading goal scorer (41). His best seasons were Season VII and Season VIII when he reached career-highs for points (9) and goals (7) in a season. * Anton Kruuv (Dorpat Lions) midfielder, age 35. One of the original players with Northern Reich and an early star for Dorpat Lions, he was the third player (and first for Dorpat) named to the Nordreich Liga Hall-of-Fame after playing in his 100th legendary match on March 9, 2011. An intelligent player noted for his booming, hard shot, Kruuv’s best seasons in scoring production were Season II and Season V and he was named to the all-stars in Season IV. He earnt the following league merits during the course of his: 1st most assists (6 assists in Season II; 3rd most points (12 points in Season II; 2nd most assists (5 assists) in Season IV. When he retired, he was the last original roster player with the club. * Kristján Sigurdson (Zemo City Avengers) midfielder, age 37. An original player with the Nordenstrom United club, he was the very first player named to the Nordreich Liga Hall-of-Fame when he earnt legendary status after playing his 100th match on February 23, 2011. Adept with the ball along the crease, Sigurdson was one of the great stars from the early years of the the Nordeich Liga, Sigurdson’s best seasons were Season III and Season V. Dominant in the midfielder, he was named to the all-star teams in Season I, Season II, Season III, Season IV, Season V, and Season VII. He earnt the following league merits during the course of his career: 2nd X11 selections (12) in Season I; 3rd top scorers (7 goals) in Season II; 2nd X11 selections (13) in Season III; 3rd most points (16 points) in Season III; 3rd most assists (4 assists) in Season IV; 2nd most assists (9 assists) in Season V. *'Cameron Swane' (Keville Athletic) fullback, age 35. Tied for 6th in career matches played (99) with the club, he was one game short for earning legendary status. However one day before he retired from the Nordreich Liga on June 16, 2012, Swaine was included as a member of the Hall-of-Fame honourary induction. He scored 12 points during his tenure with Keville Athletics, collecting 11 assists and a lone goal. Notable Transfers *'Waldemar da Costa' - transfered from Kaapstad Hornets (5 GP; 1G; 0A) to The Frogs on March 3, 2012. League MVP Due to his scoring prowess, Mathew Hunt (Zemo City Avengers) was once again the favourite when he repeated as Liga MVP. It was his third MVP in a row and his fourth career Liga MVP in the span of six seasons. Manager of the Season For the second year in a row, BaronZemo (Zemo City Avengers) finished with half the entire X11 selections during the regular season. This gave him his sixth career Manager of the Season awards to his credit. Nordreich Cup Quarter-Finals Matches played on March 17 and March 23, 2012 *Zemo City Avengers defeated Nederland (2-2; 5-1) *Dorpat Lions defeated The Frogs (3-1; 6-0) *Kaapstad Hornets defeated Keville Athletic (4-0; 3-4) *Moenchengladbach defeated Langston F.C. (0-0; 3-1) Semi-Finals Matches played on March 31 and April 7, 2012 *Zemo City Avengers defeated Moenchengladbach (1-3; 6-1) *Dorpat Lions defeated Kaapstad Hornets (1-2; 4-2) Nordreich Cup Finals Matches played on April 14 and April 21, 2012 *Dorpat Lions defeated Zemo City Avengers (2-0; 1-3) Keville Open Cup All matches hosted by Keville Athletic and involved random seeding. Quarter-Finals Matches played on April 28 and May 5, 2012 *Keville Athletic defeated Langston F.C.(1-2; 2-0) *Zemo City Avengers defeated The Frogs (6-0; 4-0) *Dorpat Lions defeated Moenchengladbach (4-1; 3-1) *Kaapstad Hornets defeated Nederland (5-0; 3-0) Semi-Finals Matches played on May 12 and May 19, 2012 *Dorpat Lions defeated Kaapstad Hornets (3-1; 5-1) *Zemo City Avengers defeated Keville Athletic (0-1; 3-0) Keville Cup Finals Matches played on May 26 and June 2, 2012 *Dorpat Lions defeated Zemo City Avengers (3-1; 5-1) Press Releases & Previews MARCH 14, 2012 - Season X kicks off Only a month or so ago, it appeared the writing was on the wall for the Nordreich Liga. After five seasons of contraction which saw the Liga’s size diminish in half, Season X kicked off today with renewed optimism and interest in the league as this is the first time since Season IV in which the league has actually grown in size. “While fans and pundits are expecting to see no change – at least in the short term - in regards with the domination of the Liga by Dorpat and Zemo City, we will see a much healthier level of competition in the bottom half of the league, and that bodes well for the future. Every team should be able to manage a couple of wins at worst, and that’s something we haven’t seen for a long time,” commented Commissioner Botha. “Because the future of the Liga had been in doubt the past couple of seasons, some clubs are now finding themselves having to restart and rebuild their previously ignored or underfunded junior and youth programmes. Ultimately I would like to see us back at 12 teams for our longterm goal. If we can keep the same eight managers together for a couple of seasons, this league will then really consolidate and strengthen for the better and attract additional interest and managers...” JUNE 16, 2012 - Athletic look back over mixed career With the Nordreich Liga looking likely to close this summer, the club has invited Brian "Badges" McGurk, editor of the fanzine "Globetrotting Zebra"; to look back at the club's seven seasons in the Nordreich Liga. It all looked so promising. Our cross town rivals had long headed off to Liga Mundo glory, and under manager Robby Bobson we were riding high in the Kevodian First Division in their place. Invited to send a team to the Nordreich Liga, the KFA suggested us and our board was all too keen. We dug out our passports and got ready to travel all over Planet Bob; no longer would our United supporting colleagues have the monopoly bragging rights about their trip to Dorpat or Transvaal come Monday morning. The first season, Nordreich IV, was as good as it got; we stormed the First Division, and international football seemed great. Unfortunately our victory turned out to be a little hollow as most of the First Division clubs went bankrupt and the remaining clubs were promoted anyway. But we pressed on, finishing 4th in the Premier Division. We didn't know then that that would be as good as it got. Bobson proved inept at briging through new players, and the league, always second fiddle to Liga Mundo, or so it seemed, didn't attract as much interest as its more glamourous affiliate. When the disbanding of the league was threatened at the end of last season, rumours circulated that our beloved Athies would also be disbanded; this time it seems the club is safe, but we will have to start in the Third Division or lower when returning to domestic football - this may take some getting used to. But it wasn't all bad; Athletic had some great moments in the Nordreich too. Not surprisingly we are fourth in all time standings; after 60 Premier Div games, 25 have been wins, 7 draws, and 28 losses. If you include our Div 1 season, however that improves to 84 games with 40 wins, 11 draws and 33 losses - a decent enough record. We never won against Dorpat Lions - losing 19 times; but we did manage 3 wins against the Avengers, and a much better record of 7 wins against the Hornets (though they still have 13 victories against us). A much better 8 games were won againt Monchenglabach, always a good oppoenent for us, against 2 losses. Our best performance was the 4-0 victory over Monchengladbach at the Avenue in Season 8, helped by a brace from the inimitable Tam Cowan, perhaps one of the greatest characters to grace a Kevodian pitch. Big Tam also scored two in our biggest victory - 6-1 over the Kaapstad Hornets in season 7, a game in which pie sales must have been a record low because there was so much happening on the pitch. Cowan is also our top scorer in Nordreich with 49 goals and a clutch of merits, although sadly will miss Legendary Status by one match. Five of his team mates did gain Legendary Status, led by goalkeeper Drew MacCaw with 108. So, we have enjoyed some good times in the Nordreich Liga, and indeed some of them we will treasure. Nevertheless, a move back to domestic football seems timely, and as someone who hasn't missed a match in six seasons it will be a lot cheaper for my pocket, too! Before we go I'd like to thank everyone involved - Botha, the Nordreich Liga Commissioner for all his hard work, our many worthy opponents in the Liga, their managers, coaches, players and fans, and all our managers, coaches, players and fans for making it a good few years worth of interesting football. And, ultimately - our one Nordreich honour - the Div 1 Championship - is still of a higher level than United's Tercera Championship! :-) Happy football everyone and all the best. Team Pages *Kaapstad Hornets Category:Nordreich Liga Category:Sports Category:Soccer